Hi Mikey

I'm a bit envious that you have a head start. I'm going to be stuck at work for a little while longer yet. No, I haven't made any payments for tuition and I imagine that no payments can fall due until we've registered in our courses within the LLM program (I assume nobody has done that yet?). I was under the impression that course registration was open until 1 Sept 2010 and was to be finalized during your initial appointment with the dean. Although, I have paid the $300 deposit to accept my offer in the LLM and $1,000 towards my graduate housing place.

To answer your question, I think graduate housing ranges between $500 and $800 per month. I am hoping to get something in the $600 range in some place called "the lab".

Good luck, talk soon. Share anything you find out and I'll definitely look you up when I get into Montreal.

Kind Regards

Hi Patosky

Congratulations on your admission to McGill!

Are you thinking about graduate housing or off-campus?

Kind Regards

Jonathan, Thanks for your prompt response to my post. I am running on a very tight budget. Be that as it may, I d prefer graduate housing if the price difference is not too much. However if the price difference is much, I dont mind staying off campus at all. What about you?

Jonathan,

I am working till the 7th of August.. and ur comin in a few days after I reach.. I guess you are right about the fee payment. We'll probably only have to make it after we register for our courses in September. I have, however, written to the accounts dept. WIll let you know what they have to say..
Patosky, I am not taking up grad housing. I will be lookin for a place to stay outside campus. If you're also looking to stay outside, then let me know what ur budget is, and I'll let you know if I find anything suitable.

Mikey et al, you guys are god-sent and simply wonderful. To answer your question, I dont know the going rate for a good accomodation out there. I guess something in the range of 400 to 600 canadian dollars per month will do. What is most important to me is that the accomodation should be very neat. Thank you so much.

Well, if ur lookin for a really neat place, then I certainly will not qualify as ur roomie :) I am also lookin at around that rate.. will keep you posted on anything I find.. good luck with your study permit and other formalities!

Mikey,
i guess since our budget is the same, the standad of the flat we ll get at the end of the day will be the same. I dont mind being your roomie as this will save money for both of us. Please keep me posted on the accomodation you find. thank you

McGill bound Gentlemen,

Top of the day to you guys. This is just to inquire if anybody is already in Montreal. Alexandra, you stated earlier you might land in Montreal by July 8th, are you now in Montreal? How is the search for an apartment goin? have you found any suitable place.

And to others - any other person in Montreal already?

How is the preparation going? please lets endeavour to keep the blog going.

thank you

Hey Patosky. I won't be up in Montreal for a few weeks yet (will probably be there just a few days before classes start), but I am getting things closer to ready for the big move. I'm in the middle of arranging an apartment (a little out from campus, but right by the Papineau station, so my commute will only be about 15 minutes or so). I'm told the neighborhood is very Francophone, so that should be interesting. Hopefully it will inspire my wife and I to actually learn a little French...

Definitely agree we should keep things going. I just realized we haven't done any real introductions yet. So I guess I'll start...

I'm Charles and I'm doing the non-thesis LLM through the Institute of Comparative Law. For lack of a better term, my focus is on comparative legal history, specifically the ways that the US and Canada have treated similar problems and why. I'm currently working in New York at a midsize boutique; before that, I did my JD at the University of Illinois and my BA (Comparative Literature) at the University of Chicago. Much of my academic research has been focused on US/Canadian comparative issues (including an article I published a few years ago on the way the two countries draw electoral districts), so McGill seemed like a perfect fit. I was the odd person that didn't apply to any American LLM programs, as I thought I had been there/done that and that I would get much more out of a year abroad.

Anyway, look forward to meeting everyone else in a little over a month!

Hey everyone,
Well you've got another Aussie joining the fray! I'm going to be studying in McGill's Institute of Air and Space Law but only for the Fall Term.
I'm coming over with my girlfriend and we are yet to find private accomodation. We're looking at (mostly) the McGill ghetto and slightly further southwest towards downtown/Old Montreal.
I'll be in MTL around 28 or 29 August at this stage. Anyone (esp Charles) got any tips on economical travel btw NYC and MTL?

Cheeers

Hello everybody,

following Charles' example I'll explain who I am and THEN I'll tell you everything about my 10 day experience in Montreal - I have already arrived here! :-)

I'm Alexandra, the one who has written 2 posts on the 1st page of this blog, and I arrived on July 7th from France. I finished my Law studies there earning a Master's Degree in Public & Private International Law and European Union Law. I'm enrolling in the non-thesis LL.M. at the Faculty of Law, mostly because I already wrote two major research papers in Europe, one being last year's Master's thesis. I grew up and graduated from High-School in Germany, which is why I am also interested in comparative law, but eventually my main focus will be on Public Int'l Law/Int'l Humanitarian Law and I hope that McGill will offer courses that interest me. They have a "Centre for human rights and legal pluralism", but it's director, Prof. Provost, is on leave this year...

My arrival in Montreal with my "conjoint" was very smooth, at the moment we're living at some friend's place in Little Italy but we actually found a place downtown, in the Concordia Ghetto on Bd De Maisonneuve West. If you need any help concerning the buildings in this area, don't hesitate, I think my friend and I visited them ALL... This was the most exhausting apartment search I ever did!!! In the beginning we called the people that put ads on the net, but we quickly realized that it's easier to visit and see apartments by just going inside the buildings and talk to the concierge. We first wanted to live in the McGill Ghetto but had 2/3 really bad visits (ex: on Durocher there are several "traps for foreign students", i.e. super expensive but super ugly apartments), so we tried the other "ghetto". In the end (like after 45 visits in 6 days) we found a 3 1/2 (i.e. 1 bedroom) with balcony, nice view, nice building (pool, etc.) 15 min by foot to the Faculty of Law. We're moving in August 1st!
We had almost taken another apartment on Guy Street but the night before signing the lease I found this website that lists buildings in Montreal with bedbug problems...: http://bedbugregistry.com/location/QC/H3H/Montr%C3%A9al/2250-Rue-Guy
How disgusting is that??? We don't have these problems in Europe (yet), so I wasn't even aware there might even be such a thing as bedbugs!!! Well, we abandoned the building and looked for apartments not listed on this website...and no carpet!

Apart from that I went to Enrolment services today in order to fix my legal status (I'm Canadian but never lived in Canada before, which strangely is very difficult for them to conceive), they were really nice and helpful! Then I went up to the Faculty and met Ms Chiarelli in the graduate office - a super nice person - who tried to explain how registration on Minerva works. To me it's an enigma, I guess I will take some time to figure that out. Oh, and I guess you also received her email concerning the meeting with the associate dean? I'll meet her on August 24th, 9h40 am. Anybody of you having an appointment, too, or having tried to register??? I'm pretty lost on this one... :-/

So, that's my experience so far, I'm looking forward to meeting you all in person! Good luck with your paperwork/apartment search, etc.!

Cheers, Alexandra

Hi everyone! Now Alex, that is a really extensive post. It is very nice of you to keep all of us ''yet to arrive'' up to speed with the accomodation issue and your experience in dealing with that. Your post has been very informative for me since i wont arrive in Montreal until possibly 28th or 29th August and accomodation is right now my ''prospective'' chief worry.

I guess it is about time I have a go at introducing myself. I am a Nigerian trained attorney presently working as an In House Counsel in a multinational company in Nigeria. Prior to that I worked for about 6 years as a counsel in one of the leading commercial law firm in the country. My area of interest is international commercial law with emphasis on international trade law - how law can be used as agent to oil interantional trade. i choose Mcgill not least becasue it will afford me the opportunity to learn more about principles of laws in civil law, improve my language skill while at the same time focusing on my area of specialisation. So Alex I will welcome information on single apartment (one bedroom) in a french speaking part of montreal (i must be fully bilingual before the end of the programme otherwise.... ha, ha, ha)

There you have. Oh lest i forget, i am really really looking forward to meeting you all.

Hey everyone!

Nice to hear from all of you and good to read your introductory mails. My brief introduction is in my first post in reply to Charles' pm. As stated earlier, I'm from India and am all set to arrive in Montreal on the 13th/14th of August. And finding a place to stay will be my primary task once I'm there. My area of interest is International commercial laws and my focus area is to understand the financial laws of North America, and how the emerging Asian nations such as India and China can bring in trade reforms to their domestic laws.

Alexandra - Thanks for your detailed email and all the information you provided regarding housing in Montreal. Good to know that you've found a place and will be moving in on the 1st of August. I will require your experience and expertise when I start my house hunt. :-) I registered online for the mandatory courses for the fall and winter sessions through the instructions that Ms Chiarelli sent us. It's quite simple if you follow the instructions in the link that she sent along with her email. My appointment with the Associate Dean is also scheduled for the 24th August at 2.20 PM. Any information on affordable houses/apartments within 15 minutes walk to campus is welcome.

Patosky - I'll keep you updated on anything I find out about housing.

I'm counting down my days at work! Look forward to meeting all of you!

-Mithun

Hi eveyone! My name is Hasna, and I am also joining McGill this fall. I am from Iran and I have admissin from the ICL. I am really glad to see all u in McGill. Unfortunately i guess I will not be in McGill till late August.

Hey Wheelj and Hasna! Nice to see more additions to the blog.. Look forward to meeting you both in August!

Thank you Mikey! looking forward to see u too.

I'll be in MTL around 28 or 29 August at this stage. Anyone (esp Charles) got any tips on economical travel btw NYC and MTL?

Hi eveyone! My name is Hasna, and I am also joining McGill this fall. I am from Iran and I have admissin from the ICL. I am really glad to see all u in McGill. Unfortunately i guess I will not be in McGill till late August.

Hi everyone!

Im Rodrigo, a 29 year old lawyer from Lima, Peru starting the Non-Thesis LLM in the Institute of Air and Space Law this Fall. I am a litigation lawyer specialized in criminal, constitutional and civil procedure law currently working as an attorney in a corporate law firm and as a constitutional procedure law lecturer at a Peruvian university.

Anyone has an idea of the approximate cost of living in Montreal without taking into account housing? A conservative approach will be great because my budget is pretty tight :). Ill be staying at one of the grad houses offered by McGill.

Luckily I have all my paperwork done so I just need to close my pending stuff here at the office, pack my bags and catch a plane to Montreal. I will be arriving on the week of August 23, hope Ill have enough time to set up before classes start...

Look forward to meeting you all in person!

Regards,

Rodrigo

Immigration Québec estimates that a single person will need CAD 11,000, including housing, for one year, although that does not include the cost of health insurance.

As for a comparative cost of living analysis, check out:

http://www.xpatulator.com/outside.cfm?lid=39
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Canada&city=Montreal
http://www.easyexpat.org/en/mod/cost.htm

The second one is particularly detailed, but requires you to have a knowledge of the cost of things in New York, though you should be able to figure things out by comparing to Lima (http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/city_result.jsp?country=Peru&city=Lima).